Death of Ivanovic Worries Kosovo

Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb politician, has been shot dead in the north of Mitrovic, a Serb-run territory in Kosovo.

Mr. Ovanovic is a prominent political figure often dubbed as a ‘moderate Kosovo Serb leader’ was shot four times in the chest before he died in a hospital.

The deceased politician Oliver Ivanovic was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2016 by the EU judges for the war crimes against ethnic Albanians in 1999.

The death of Ivanovic has brought down the EU-mediated talks between the Kosovo Albanians and Serbian government after the Serbian government representatives walked out of the talks.

The verdict, however, was overturned a year later. Mr. Ivanovic denied all the charges brought against him.

He headed a political party ‘Freedom, Democracy, Justice’ and played role in the negotiations with the NATO and the EU.

The death of Ivanovic has brought down the EU-mediated talks between the Kosovo Albanians and Serbian government after the Serbian government representatives walked out of the talks.

The Serbian government reacted heatedly after the death of Ivanovic. The Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country should join the investigation and his government is ready to carry out its own investigation.

“For Serbia, this is an act of terrorism and we will treat it accordingly,” the Serbian President Vucic said.

Hashim Thaci, the President of Kosovo, also condemned the murder and vowed to ‘bring perpetrators to justice’.

The Serbian government reacted heatedly after the death of Ivanovic. The Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country should join the investigation and his government is ready to carry out its own investigation.

The international community reacted to the Ivanovic murder. Greg Delawie, the U.S. ambassador to Kosovo said, “I call on all Kosovo’s justice institutions to investigate this incident swiftly and professionally, and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

The EU representative to Kosovo, Natalya Apostolova urged for calm and called on the authorities to punish the murderers.